With the start of a new year the contract work being carried out at Statfold Barn on the frames & bottom end overhaul as well as machining and fitment of the new cylinder block has been making steady progress. The Rolling chassis as delivered has been fully striped down with all the various components having been cleaned, inspected & an overall assessment made to the repairs needed & life expired components that will need replacement. The Cylinder block being one such item that once removed from the frames & split revealed itself to be beyond economic repair and thus work started on machining up the replacement block casting utilizing the original as a machining datum. Thanks to Statfold Barn for the rolling chassis update & Andy Kelly for the boiler update at Sheffield Park.
The eccentric clusters have been cleaned and assessed. New clamping bolts have been made for these as the old bolts had seen better days.
The eccentric rods have been cleaned, checked and painted In red oxide awaiting trial fitting when the time comes.
The weigh shaft having received the same treatment.
The brake cross bars have been turned to remove the years of wear that has taken its toll.
A closer look at the re-turned ends of the brake cross bars.
A lot of the motion has been gone through & awaits fitting back onto the chassis.
A close up view of the valve rods after having been ground with our tool post grinder on the lathe.
The new Replacement cylinders have had the majority of the machining completed. Here is one half of the Cylinders set up on the horizontal borer.
Here we see both new castings bolted together and positioned under the radial drill to ream out the joining bolt holes.
New axlebox keep castings and the repaired horn guide sent away to “Cast Iron Welding services” after finding a crack while stripping the chassis.
The inside of the frames have been needle gunned & painted whilst all the horn guide castings having been removed, cleaned, holes reamed and new fitted bolts made.
Five of the newly machined horn stays providing a snug fit onto the horn guide castings helping to hold the horn guides & frames square and true.
Meanwhile at Sheffield Park work on the boiler has been progressing well with the following pictures provided by Andy Kelly showing the trial fit of the new steel firebox into the boiler to check the fit & subsequent marking out of stay holes for drilling.
The new steel inner firebox being lowered into position for its trial fit.
Secured in its correct position the stay holes where marked through using the new & existing outer platework as a datum.
Once all the relevant stay holes had been marked out the inner box was removed & a start made at drilling all of the relevant pilot holes.
